aeolianblues

"‘Y Teimlad’ is a song by Datblygu that was recorded in ‘84 and literally it translates as the feeling, but it sounds much more profound in its original state. David R. Edwards who wrote the song is a lyrical genius. It’s an incredibly simple song but very profound, its just a shame that more people don’t speak Welsh and can appreciate the lyrics he’s written y’know. Its one of the most straightforward songs he’s written. Datblygu means ‘developing’ so a lot of the music he wrote was very improvised, experimental. They were a big influence on us, especially their lyrical outlook." "It’s a song about love, or it’s a song about not knowing what love is or what love means. The original is a really raw, kinda electro, dissonant song, but it could it could be made in a Sinatra style. "Musically its a live song, probably the most straight thing we’ve ever recorded." 

This song by David R Edwards and Datblygu has so much emotional depth that I would rather not tarnish and trivialise it with one of my shady translations!

—Gruff and SFA in the online ‘liner notes’ on mwng.co.uk, now defunct, where they were providing some context and translations for the songs on Mwng, since it was an entirely welsh language album. This cover, of Datblygu’s Y Teimlad which is such a beautiful song in all its iterations (David Did give their version his nod of approval), was so touching, Gruff decided not to translate it at all and make it seem less deep.

To translate songs is a bastard. That's why we never record English versions of our welsh songs & vice versa. Often when songwriting I will use a word for it's rhyming value over it's poetic logic. In translation these rhymes are usually lost. Replaced by an awkward gaggle of uncomplimentary words. Therefore instead of going for a literal translation I have attempted wherever possible to present the lyrics in a dumb and humble way. Some however will inevitably sound pony! So go ahead, burn all your linguaphone tapes and enjoy the stereo bi lingual experience that is 'MWNG'

—Gruff Rhys, on providing translations of the all-Welsh language album Mwng in 2000. All up on the now-defunct mwng.co.uk website launched with the album.

LADS I PICKED UP MWNG ON CD FROM A RECORD SHOP. IN CANADA. ABSOLUTELY PISSING MYSELF WITH JOY

I have. SO. many thoughts about this song my god. It's the romantic-tragedy thing of 'we'll go down together' thing isn't it. Also even though I know the chances of this practically are quite low, they're never zero, but the chorus of Blur's Ong Ong is practically the exact same as this one, word for word even — well, I suppose except Sali Mali is written in Welsh. But the whole 'I wanna be with you' <--> 'Dwi isio bod efo ti' thing is almost identical, eh? Damon was actually a Super Furries fan, and I think Gruff and the band reciprocated that, they did cite Blur occasionally as an influence. Also, they were very much on Damon's radar, Gruff was a guest musician and vocalist on Gorillaz' Superfast Jellyfish (on Plastic Beach), and notably, Damon had said of that song/album and of the Furries that this [song/album] was what Super Furry Animals could've been 'if they'd embraced their electronic side' (I mean, they did. They very much did, that was why they stood out so distinctly from all other guitar alternative bands, didn't they?)

Anyhow, there's a bit of a similarity, though of course this song was recorded back in the album 1 days, 1993-95 sessions for Fuzzy Logic. The non-demo version, this version, was released properly only with the 2015 15th anniversary remaster of Mwng, so it's a total coincidence, but shows you the whole 'great minds think alike' thing.

Anyhow, I will return to crying over the lyrics aaaaa

mae gennym gwch a hwnnw'n suddo ond paid cyhuddo fi o beidio gwneud dim tymhestloedd gwyllt sydd wedi'n dilyn a does dim tir i ni gael rhedeg i ffwrdd

ti'n wylo pan dwi'n chwerthin

ond pan ddaw diwedd y byd dwisho bod hefo ti a phan ddaw'r byd i ben (dw'isio bod hefo ti)

a phan ddaw'r dilyw mawr dwisho bod hefo ti a phan ddaw'r awyr i lawr  (dwisho bod hefo ti)

a drwy afonydd ar dân cawn nofio a phan ddaw'r byd i ben

mae gennym ardd a honno'n gwywo heblaw y celyn sydd yn pigo o hyd mae'r drain yn ddwys a'r gwair at fy ysgwyddau a llafn y pladur sydd yn malu o hyd

dwi'n wylo pan ti'n chwerthin,

Ond pan ddaw diwedd y byd dwisho bod hefo ti A phan ddaw'r byd i ben (dwisho bod hefo ti) a phan ddaw'r dilyw mawr dwisho bod hefo ti

a phan ddaw'r awyr i lawr  (dwisho bod hefo ti) a drwy afonydd o dân cawn nofio a phan ddaw'r byd i ben

sali mali (x4)

dwi'n wylo pan ti'n chwerthin

ond pan ddaw diwedd y byd dwisho bod hefo ti a phan ddaw'r byd i ben (dwisho bod hefo ti) a phan ddaw'r dilyw mawr dwisho bod hefo ti a pan ddaw'r awyr i lawr  (dwisho bod hefo ti)

sali mali (x4)

mae jaci soch yn oer yn y nos

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lyrics in english: 

we've a boat and it's sinking but don't accuse me of doing nothing wild storms that have followed us and there's no land for us to run away to

you're weeping while i'm laughing

but when the end of the world comes i want to be with you and when the world comes to its end (i want to be with you)

and when the great flood comes i want to be with you and when the sky comes down (i want to be with you)

and through rivers of fire, we can swim and when the world comes to its head

we've a garden and it's withering  besides the holly that still stings the thorns are intense and the grass is at my shoulders and the scythe's blade that still grinds 

i'm weeping while you're laughing 

but when the end of the world comes i want to be with you and when the world comes to its head (i want to be with you)

and when the great flood comes i want to be with you and when the sky comes down (i want to be with you)

and through rivers of fire, we can swim and when the world comes to its head

sali mali (x4)

but when the end of the world comes i want to be with you and when the world comes to its head (i want to be with you)

and when the great flood comes i want to be with you and when the sky comes down (i want to be with you)

sali mali (x4)

jaci soch is cold in the night

An interview with Gruff about Mwng when the album came out in 2000

He makes good points in this interview! And it's true, he was so unsure of what he'd be attaching to the idea of these songs that they literally didn't tour Mwng in Wales at all— this album went to the rest of the UK, I think this album also went to America; it didn't tour Wales until the reunion in 2015 for this album's 15th anniversary that they played it live in Wales for the first time ever. That's what they'd said in 2015 anyway.

It's also interesting that he says it's a fine line to walk: you don't want to make a fully fluff record, you also apparently don't want to make it solely political: 'Something that gets people waving flags instead of thinking'.

What's funny is that Mwng isn't really a political record at all, at least not in an outward sense. Gruff's said it's quite a personal record. It was stuff going on in his life, and it was stuff he was seeing around him, and he wrote about it—all he does say is that because it was so personal, it felt more natural to write it in his first language.

There are songs that can be seen as political, or as social commentary (hello?? Track 1, the opener on the album is a song 'Drygioni'. Drygioni means 'devolution' in Welsh, like the devolution (decentralisation) of government powers to let nations of the UK have more self-governance power!), but they're in some ways personal songs too. They are a person reacting to the world around him, rather than impersonal manifestos— as Gruff says, something to think about rather than to just promote thoughtless flag-waving.

Good band, Super Furry Animals.

(Gonna sit here and cry thanks)

Super Furry Animals recorded a cover of Datblygu’s Y Teimlad way back when, on Mwng (2000). Their cover, even on the album, is a lot slower and super moving, and somehow one man and his guitar make it totally heart-wrenching, moving, gutting, and especially since David R Edwards’ death last year, it’s just... wow.

However! Dave had said it himself, it’s not a sad song! It’s a song about hope. The feeling of love, of hope. He really liked the Super Furries’ version too. His own? Post punk as heck, thanks in no small part to Pat Morgan’s instrumentation; as Dave lovingly called it, “John Peel music”.

Again, this clip was taken from the full broadcast, available for 30-ish days, of Stuart Maconie’s 3 April show on 6Music as part of the BBC 6Music festival.

I had this song up loud today and properly noticed the keys on this for the first time. Cian was definitely the backbone of what made the Super Furry sound so instantly recognisable!

This is even better than the studio version (and Mwng, for how much it cost them to make it, is a fantastic record as it stands)! There's a real upbeat feel to this performance, and like the trumpets? Yes please, it sounds so grand, which makes it a typical SFA song: serious topic lyrics over insanely fun music